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 Sexual orientation - a person’s erotic and emotional orientation, toward members of his or her own gender or members of the other gender.  Homosexual - a person whose sexual orientation is toward members of the same gender.  Bisexual - a person whose sexual orientation is toward both men and women.

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Sexual Orientation  Homophobia - Strong, irrational fear of homosexuals.  Heterosexism - Belief that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is the norm. _______________________________________________ Many Americans express opinion that sexual relations between two adults of the same sex are always wrong (58%).  19% of women and 28% of men are victims of hate crimes because someone thought they were gay.

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Sexual Orientation  Gay men are more educated than straight men but earn less.  Receive dishonorable discharges from the armed services.  Homosexuality has been grounds for firing a person from federal employment and for denial of a security clearance.  Slang terms for gays and lesbians include:  Queer, Fairy, Dyke, Faggot (Fag)

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Sexual Orientation  Covert - a homosexual who is “in the closet,” who keeps his or her sexual orientation a secret.  Overt - a homosexual who is “out of the closet,” who is open about his or her sexual orientation.  There are varying degrees of covert and overt homosexuality. Coming Out:  The process of acknowledging to oneself, and then to others, that one is gay or lesbian.  Six stages of identity development:  Identity confusion  Identity comparison  Identity tolerance  Identity acceptance  Identity pride  Identity synthesis

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Sexual Orientation  Gay liberation movement - has encouraged homosexuals to be more overt and to feel less guilty about their behavior.  Many LGBT communities exist in neighborhoods in large cities, with bookstores, restaurants, theaters, and social organizations.  International links have been cemented in the last decade.

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Sexual Orientation  Gay bars are single bars that cater exclusively to LGBs.  Gay baths - majority were closed in the 1980s, but have been resurrected in the 1990s.

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 Sin View  Homosexuality used to be viewed as a sin or heresy.  Medical Model  The sin view has been replaced by the medical model; now viewed as a sickness or illness.  Being called “sick” could be considered as another form of persecution of gays and lesbians.

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Sexual Orientation Genetic factors 52 percent of identical twins are also gay. 11 percent of adoptive siblings also were gay. Prenatal factors  According to one theory, homosexuality is caused by a variation in prenatal development. Brain factors  Scientists do not agree on whether there are significant differences between gay and straight men in the anterior region of the hypothalamus. Hormonal imbalance  Attempts to cure male homosexuality by administering testosterone have failed and seem to result in even more homosexual behavior than usual. Learning Theory  Evidence is mixed on this explanation of sexual orientation.

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Sexual Orientation Bisexuality:  Men and women begin to think of themselves as bisexual in their early to mid-20s.  Women are more likely to be bisexual than men. _________________________________________________________ Sexual behavior may or may not reflect identity:  Deprivation homosexuality - homosexual activity that occurs in certain situations, such as prisons, when people are deprived of their regular heterosexual activity.  Lesbians Until Graduation (LUGs) - women who live a lesbian lifestyle in college, then shift to heterosexuality afterward.